Sita Brahmachari (born 1966) is a British author known for her work in children's and young adult literature. Her debut novel, Artichoke Hearts, later published in the United States as Mira in the Present Tense, won the 2011 Waterstones Children's Book Prize. In 2025, Brahmachari was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Brahmachari was born in Derby, England in 1966. Her father was a doctor from Kolkata, who emigrated from India in the 1950s, and her mother was a nurse from Lake District.
After completing her A-levels, Brahmachari worked as an au pair in France, and attended Le Cours Florent Drama College. She later attended Bristol University and completed a Master of Arts at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Brahmachari's debut novel, Artichoke Hearts, which was later published in the United States as Mira in the Present Tense, was based on her mother-in-law and published by Macmillan in 2011. The book won the 2011 Waterstones Children's Book Prize. The novel was followed by Jasmine Skies, which was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.
The following year, Brahmachari took on the position of Writer-in-Residence at the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants. The same year, she became Patron of Reading at Fortismere School.
Brahmachari also wrote the script for The Arrival, a play based on a graphic novel by Shaun Tan, which was produced by Kristine Landon-Smith in 2013.
In 2015, Brahmachari was appointed as an online writer-in-residence with BookTrust for a six-month term.
She has also been a human rights ambassador for Amnesty International.
In 2018, Tender Earth was on the IBBY honour list for writing. In 2018, Where the River Runs Gold was selected as the Waterstone's ChildrenâÂÂs Book of the Month (July 2019). In 2020, When Secrets Set Sail was selected as a BlackwellâÂÂs ChildrenâÂÂs Book of the Month. In 2021, When Shadows Fall was named one of the best children's books of the year by The Guardian and The Times.